Seth had some excellent advice over in the Ubercon Demo thread,

when he wrote: In that case, you're going to want to have some brief summaries of setting elements on hand, plus be familiar enough with it all to answer questions. For example, you may want to have a single sheet with a couple of lines dedicated to explaining each element to a prospective player. For example:

The Citadel: large technological city on the shores of the Sea of Mist. Ruled by council of five High Lords. Home of Keeper Temple. Populated with humans and Restored. Connected to the Web. Visuals: Blade Runner, Midgard from Final Fantasy VII, Thief: The Dark Project.

The Web: A tangle of walkways and improvised nests above the Citadel, built on the structural members of the shattered dome of Kryshana. Populated with every type of being possible -- human, restored, misbegotten, chosen, and blessed. M.C.Escher meets the Ewok village meets the Mos Eisley canteena.

This may need a bit of editing, but it's how I remember it:

Sea of Mists: The roiling clouds of the Nothing from the Neverending Story. Dotted with islands and continents that are actually the tips of large mountains. Populated by farmers, hermits and the fringes of society. Traders and their mistships are the only source of communication. Occasionally, artifacts from a fallen technological civilisation will be found. Dragons, ancient evil telepathic beings lurk below the mists.

BTW: this is a fantastic idea, and just what I've been looking for to set up a game of Alyria with new players. I'd love for a finished list to be compiled somewhere as a resource.

Steve.

The Arc: Massive metal cube seething with Humans. Sealed for centuries to avoid the Plague. If the Collective is to survive, individuality must be suppressed. Masks are compulsory – they ensure equality and anonymity. But Rebels have abandoned their numbers, taken on names and removed their masks. The Main Doors have just been unsealed. The culture of the Arc spreads to surrounding lands.

These are excellent; thank you so much, and keep 'em coming.

Don't forget, all those many people types also need to be explained.

Thanks.

--M. J. Young

hix wrote:
BTW: this is a fantastic idea, and just what I've been looking for to set up a game of Alyria with new players. I'd love for a finished list to be compiled somewhere as a resource.

The Outsiders: The color of Blood. Nanoviruses. The scourge of humanity. They have pursued us across the stars to the refuge of Alyria. They have turned the moon red. The touch of the Outsiders infects and transforms you. Inspirations: 'Thread' from Dragonriders of Pern, Cabin Fever, any racial or ethnic memory that produces absolute terror and dread.

The Restored: Imagine your loved ones, dead but still seen walking every day. They are returned to life by the secret machines; powered by the spark of Phaeric. The Restored are the slave labour keeping the Citadel running; they are everywhere, performing menial tasks. Perhaps they hide a secret intelligence. Perhaps they hate us (and our True Life). Their Implants keep them docile but some haters of the Rite of Restoration remove the implants.

Also, 'The Wilderness'? One inspiration might be the Island of Gont from the Wizard of Earthsea.

Humans: descendents of the original colonists of Alyria. As you may guess, they are much like you or me. They walk all paths of life, and may be found in any place. The only question is: what are they *really*?

Humans create the Restored, and provide the flesh that is restored. The Blessed are human, but using the blessing warps them away from the race of their birth. The Misbegotten may have once been human, before the dragons and their plague. Humans, it is thought but rarely said, may serve the mighty dragons in their schemes of torment for the power they can lend, serving as willing tools to an incomprehensible evil. And, it is whispered, humans are sometimes chosen by the unicorn to foil those draconic schemes, or perhaps just to ease the burden of pain that is a human's daily lot.

Indeed, a human is just one of us...

By the way, have I mentioned that this idea just rocks?

No?

This idea just rocks!

Mark D. Eddy wrote: Humans: descendents of the original colonists of Alyria. As you may guess, they are much like you or me. They walk all paths of life, and may be found in any place. The only question is: what are they *really*?

Mist ship: cross between a galleon and a dirigible, done steampunk-style. Think of the airship from Final Fantasy VII (before it gets the jet-power upgrade) or the ships in Final Fantasy X (IIRC).

Lightning jacks: electricity thieves that tap into the Keeper power grid and provide juice to the Web. Hunted as criminals and blasphemers by the Keepers and High Lords but absolutely sacrosanct in the Web.

Seth Ben-Ezra
Great Wolf

And how can we forget...

The Bag: A dark artifact created by a dragon cultist. A cross between a bag of holding and the One Ring*. Can give its owner anything that he desires, but there is always a cost.

*Thanks to Ralph Mazza for this phrasing.

Seth Ben-Ezra
Great Wolf

Diggers: They were aardvarks, brought to Alyria by the Progenitors. Now they are something more, a hybrid created by the Plague. These small sentient animals don’t come into contact with humans often. Men are afraid of that which they do not know, and the Diggers are truly alien to the human eye. However, an unusual proportion of Paladins come from their ranks. They are immune to the Outsiders and in fact find them quite … tasty. Inspirations: Cerebus the Aardvark, any wild animal that make you go “Aw how cute” and underestimate its grumpiness.

And here's one that may be completely inaccurate:

Paladins: They have been visted by the Unicorns. Compelled to wander and work for good. Ironically, as wandering strangers they are not trusted by the communities they are supposed to help and are unfamiliar with the issues they are supposed to confront. You don’t need to be a Paladin to confront evil. Being a Paladin does not confer any special powers. It just creates a drive, an urgency in you.

Also, we should add to Sea of Mists: Pirates and a link to ‘The Wilderness’.

Steve

Here's one that plays off my possibly inaccurate Paladin definition above:

Dragon Cultists: Dedicated to causing pain and suffering. Inspired by and connected to Dragons. The opposite of Paladins – to spread their misery effectively, they must be completely trusted by the community they live in and often have significant power. They are evil, subtle, hidden.

I'm trying to imagine how these will be used. Will you have the main locations (Arc, Citadel, Wilderness, etc) on one main front page, and then once people have chosen interesting elements from that, they go to a second (for instance "Citadel" page) with all the local elements listed under that? Thoughts?

Steve.

Speaking of links, I was thinking that this all would look good in a wiki.

Mike

hix wrote: Here's one that plays off my possibly inaccurate Paladin definition above:

Dragon Cultists: Dedicated to causing pain and suffering. Inspired by and connected to Dragons. The opposite of Paladins – to spread their misery effectively, they must be completely trusted by the community they live in and often have significant power. They are evil, subtle, hidden.

I'm trying to imagine how these will be used. Will you have the main locations (Arc, Citadel, Wilderness, etc) on one main front page, and then once people have chosen interesting elements from that, they go to a second (for instance "Citadel" page) with all the local elements listed under that? Thoughts?

Mike Holmes wrote: Speaking of links, I was thinking that this all would look good in a wiki.

Mountains of Glory: "mountains" that surround the Core. Blaze with light and heat, creating a massive desert. Are actually Pheric's heat sinks.

Seth Ben-Ezra
Great Wolf

Steve a.k.a. hix wrote: I'm trying to imagine how these will be used. Will you have the main locations (Arc, Citadel, Wilderness, etc) on one main front page, and then once people have chosen interesting elements from that, they go to a second (for instance "Citadel" page) with all the local elements listed under that? Thoughts?

My idea has been revised some; at present, I'm thinking that this will serve as a Cliff Notes introduction to the game world, which I will read (or possibly provide in printed form) to the players for their overview, and then rely on the copy of the rules for detail if necessary.

Here's what I've got; my thanks to all for their contributions, and apologies for my sometimes heavy-handed editing.

-----

The World of Alyria

There are some things in Alyria that are basic to understanding the world; these are not the people nor the places, particularly, but things behind them all that make the world what it is. We will pick the kinds of people who will be characters in our story, and we'll pick the places where the story occurs, and even decide where those places are relative to each other; but these things will be present simply because this is Alyria.

The Unicorns are divine avengers and the opponents of the dragons. Think of the unicorns in Legend or the blazing white light of the newly-raised Gandalf. Unicorns appear to deliver righteous judgment on evildoers and to provide comfort to those in need. Sometimes, the unicorns choose humans to war against the dragons and their cultists.

In contrast, the Dragons are demonic beings from the bottom of the Sea of Mist. The look like a cross between a Queen Alien and a dracolich, comparable to Cthulhian entities. Feeding on psychic emanations of pain, they are worshiped and served by dragon cultists.

The Progenitors are gone. These were the original colonists of Alyria, who fled here from an intergalactic war or catastrophe of some kind that involved the Outsiders. They sought to build a perfect society here, but failed.

The Outsiders, the scourge of humanity, have pursued mankind across the stars to the refuge of Alyria. Blood red themselves, they have turned the moon red. The touch of the Outsiders infects and transforms the victim. Think of 'Thread' from Dragonriders of Pern, Cabin Fever, and any racial or ethnic memory that produces absolute terror and dread.

Pheric, the god of iron and thunder, was created by the Progenitors to protect the people. It continues to control the terraforming of the habitable sections of the world, and is physically located in the Core. It has some control over the weather. Only a few Keepers know the truth about Pheric (that it is actually an ancient computer), and they all live in the Core.

The Ripper Plague, released upon the colonists by the Dragons, once threatened to kill all that was left of humanity on Alyria. It is mostly a memory, but there are reminders both in the mutations left behind and in the periodic outbreaks that strike unexpectedly.

The mist ships sail the mist seas. Crossing a galleon with a dirigible with a heavy dose of steampunk, it is like the airship from Final Fantasy VII (before the jet-power upgrade) or the ships in Final Fantasy X.

The Garden is like a place, but not a place. Its enemies cannot find it to destroy it; those who would study it never see it. Yet sometimes, when someone is in true need of care or comfort or solace, they suddenly find that the Garden is there, waiting for them to enter, where the Ones who Wait minister healing, comfort, counsel, or just tend the Garden while the visitor rests. Then the Garden is gone again.

The People of Alyria

These are those from whom our characters are drawn; these will be the stars of our story.

The Keepers are the tech-priests of Pheric, the god of iron and thunder. They have the flavor of the Catholic Church with a tech bent, like Warhammer 40K. They are split into two factions, the Keepers of the Citadel and the Keepers of the Core. The Keeper religion is the orthodox religion of the Citadel; it is their temple that sits at the center of the city. The Keepers lay claim to all the Progenitors' technology and have many "miraculous" abilities as well.

Lightning jacks are electricity thieves that tap into the Keeper power grid and provide juice to the Web. Hunted as criminals and blasphemers by the Keepers and High Lords, they are absolutely sacrosanct in the Web.

The Chosen have been singled out by the Unicorns to serve the greater good. Usually they are gifted, receiving some special power which they can wield in their mission to make the world better.

The Misbegotten are mutated progeny caused by the ripper plague, like the muties from "Total Recall". They occasionally possess preternatural abilities, but are frequently outcast from "civilized" communities.

The Blessed are wielders of "wild magic", able to do great things with the power within themselves. However, losing control of the Blessing can be wildly destructive. Use of the Blessing twists the body of the user, causing him to devolve. These mutations are called the Marks of the Blessing. Most Blessed hide their powers, as they are hated and feared by most.

The Restored are the dead returned to life by the secret machines; powered by the spark of Pheric. They are the slave labor keeping the Citadel running; they are everywhere, performing menial tasks. Imagine your loved ones, dead but still seen walking every day. Perhaps they hide a secret intelligence. Perhaps they hate us (and our True Life). Their Implants keep them docile, but some haters of the Rite of Restoration remove the implants.

Dragon Cultists are dedicated to causing pain and suffering. Serving the Dragons, they are the opposite of the Chosen. To spread their misery effectively, they must be completely trusted by the community they live in, and often have significant political power. They are evil, subtle, hidden. Some are also gifted, using magics given to them by the dragons.

Humans are the descendents of the original colonists of Alyria. They are much like us–they walk all paths of life, and may be found in any place. But what are they really? Humans create the Restored, and provide the flesh that is restored. The Blessed are human, but using the blessing warps them away from the race of their birth. The Misbegotten may have once been human, before the dragons and their plague. Humans, it is thought but rarely said, may serve the mighty dragons in their schemes of torment for the power they can lend, serving as willing tools to an incomprehensible evil. And, it is whispered, humans are sometimes chosen by the unicorn to foil those draconic schemes, or perhaps just to ease the burden of pain that is a human's daily lot. Indeed, a human is just one of us.

Diggers once were aardvarks, brought to Alyria by the Progenitors. Now they are something more, a hybrid created by the Plague. These small sentient animals don’t come into contact with humans often. Men are afraid of that which they do not know, and the Diggers are truly alien to the human eye. However, they are the Paladins of the world. They are immune to the Outsiders and find them quite…tasty.

The Places in Alyria

We get to create the geography of the world to suit the needs of our story. These are some of the places we will find here.

The Citadel is a large technological city on the shores of the Sea of Mist. It was once the beautiful crystal city Kryshana before it shattered as darkness fell over the world. Now ruled by council of five High Lords, it is the home of Keeper Temple. Populated with humans and Restored, and connected to the Web, it conjures images of Blade Runner, Midgard from Final Fantasy VII, and Thief: The Dark Project.

The Web is a tangle of walkways and improvised nests above the Citadel, built on the structural members of the shattered dome of Kryshana. It is populated with every type of being possible--human, restored, misbegotten, chosen, and blessed–and powered by the work of the Lightning Jacks. It looks like M.C.Escher meets the Ewok village meets the Mos Eisley canteena.

The Sea of Mists remind one of the roiling clouds of the Nothing from The Neverending Story. Dotted with islands and continents that are actually the tips of large mountains, this is the atmosphere of the gas giant of which our land is but a small terraformed peak. Its islands are populated by farmers, hermits and the fringes of society. Traders and their mist ships are the only means of communication. Occasionally, artifacts from a fallen technological civilization will be found. Dragons, ancient evil telepathic beings, lurk below the mists.

The Arc is a massive metal cube seething with Humans. Sealed for centuries to avoid the Plague, they determined that if the Collective was to survive, individuality must be suppressed. Its residents are identified by numbers, and masks are compulsory–they ensure equality and anonymity. But Rebels have abandoned their numbers, taken on names and removed their masks. The Main Doors have just been unsealed. The culture of the Arc is spreading to surrounding lands.

The Wilderness is stereotypical Celtic scenery, with rolling green hills and mist-cloaked forests. A contrast to the industrial Citadel and the sterile Ark, ruins of the world of the Progenitors may still be found here, including their amazing roads. Bandit gangs and packs of Misbegotten roam the wilderness and can be a threat to travelers. Many small villages can be found in the middle of nowhere, which often develop strange customs due to their cultural isolation.

The Mountains of Glory surround the Core. These blaze with light and heat, creating a massive desert. They are actually Pheric's heat sinks, but this is not understood by any but the highest of the Keepers.

-----

This is kind of a last chance did I miss anything, as tomorrow will be my last visit here before I leave for the game.

Yes, I know digger paladins are not core to the game; I just found the one we used really neat, so I included it.

Thanks again.

--M. J. Young

The Five Hundred guard the people of Alyria; their quicksilver armour is a part of them, and it is both aegis and weapon. This armour is a nanotech legacy of the Progenitors; each new spiculum of the Five Hundred, when he is knighted, takes the name of the Progenitor whi first owned his armour.

Spelling nitpick. It's "Ark", not "Arc". (Just think of Noah's Ark.)

Seth Ben-Ezra
Great Wolf

Oh, forgot to add this.

It all looks good, M.J. I'll be curious to hear your report back from the con.

Seth Ben-Ezra
Great Wolf

The Numbered: the masked and obedient human inhabitants of the Ark. They are faceless, without personal connections and utterly democratic. Any of the Numbered may call for a vote on any issue.

The Named: those individuals who have rebelled against the authority of the Ark. Many of the Ark's recently established External Colonies have gone Named. They must be eliminated.

Have fun at the Con, MJ.

Steve.